overclockinghttp://www.maclife.com/taxonomy/term/9904/all
enThe Lifer: Overclockinghttp://www.maclife.com/article/columns/lifer_overclocking
<!--paging_filter--><h3>Overclocking a 3.6GHz chip to a world-record 8.429GHz with the help of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium? Rik Myslewski figures it’s gotta be a guy thing.</h3><p><img src="/files/u129772/2010/06/rik_150.jpg" width="150" height="201" style="float: right;" class="graphic-right" /></p><p>An AMD-led team has set a new Guinness World Record for the “Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor” by cranking up a soon-to-be-released chip to 8.429GHz. Pause for a nanosecond to let that number sink in: that’s eight billion, four hundred twenty-nine million cycles per second.</p><p>What is it about guys? Give them something fast and their immediate impulse is to make it faster.<br /><br />In this case, the fast thing is an eight-core AMD FX processor, codenamed Zambezi and scheduled for release soon—likely by the time you read this. As I write these words on my 1.4GHz MacBook Air, AMD hadn’t yet released the Zambezi line’s base clock speeds. The word on the street, however, was that the top-of-the-line part would zip along at around 3.6GHz.<br /><br />That’s fast, but not fast enough for “Team AMD FX.” These five guys—yes, all guys—went to extremes to boost that chip’s clock up to 8.429GHz. How extreme is extreme? Is chilling the chip down to a few degrees above absolute zero by bathing it in liquid helium extreme enough for you?<br /><br />To say that liquid helium is cold is like saying that Bill Gates is well off: a gross understatement. The stuff boils at –452.11 degrees Fahrenheit. Absolute zero—the theoretical and unreachable temperature where all molecular motion grinds to a complete halt—is –459.67°F.<br /><br />Liquid helium is so cold, in fact, that before dumping that cryo-crazy concoction into their cooling pot the team had to first chill the target chip with liquid nitrogen, which boils at a comparatively toasty –320.42°F. In fact, they had to let the liquid nitrogen boil completely away before adding the liquid helium, or the liquid nitrogen would have been turned into nitro-ice.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/files/u307916/2011/12/lifer1.jpg" width="620" height="413" /><br /><strong>Sami “Macci” Makinen of Team AMD FX sets up the cooling pot and funnel over the record-setting 8-core AMD FX processor.</strong></p><p>Chilling the AMD FX down to near absolute zero did more than merely keep it from overheating when cranked up to ludicrous clock rates. Extremely low temperatures also improve the conductivity of silicon, helping the chip’s transistors to switch on and off at world-record speeds.<br /><br />When I asked the team’s leader, AMD’s Simon Solotko, exactly how cold those transistors got during the chip’s record-breaking run, he confessed he didn’t know—there are a few thermal gradients between the silicon and the liquid helium churning in the cooling pot above it. His best guess, however, was “somewhere in the vicinity of 10 degrees north of zero K”—that’s zero Kelvin, or absolute zero.<br /><br />Solotko reminded me that not all chips can be pushed to such extremes. Some will, as he put it, “cold-bug out” when they’re brought down to extraordinarily low temps. Being an AMD man, it was perhaps predictable that he would tell me, as he did, that Intel’s current top-of-the-line chips, codenamed Sandy Bridge, don’t handle extreme cold all that well. “You’ll see the top frequencies in Sandy Bridge in the fives,” <br />he claims. <br /><br />But if you happen to have a couple of tanks of liquid nitrogen and helium around your house and you’d like to cryo-crank your Mac to get it to rip DVDs a bit faster, fuhgettaboudit. The overclocked Zambezi was able to stabilize at 8.429GHz for only a few seconds—just long enough to take a clock-watching screenshot to satisfy the Guinness folks.<br /><br />There are most definitely things to learn about chip architecture, conductivity, and the like by such over-the-top overclocking, but to Solotko and his team the rationale is more direct. “This is an extreme technology sport,” he told me. Sounds like a guy thing to me.</p>http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/lifer_overclocking#commentsAMDColumnsCPUsoverclockingprocessorprocessorsthe liferMacTue, 25 Oct 2011 15:29:05 +0000Rik Myslewski12677 at http://www.maclife.comThis Week's Hottest Reviews on TechRadarhttp://www.maclife.com/article/news/weeks_hottest_reviews_techradar_23
<!--paging_filter--><p><img src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/TechRadar/Computing/Components/AMD%20FX%20Bulldozer/2185_chipshot_RD1%20-%20UpRes%20600dpi.jpg" alt="AMD FX-8150" width="400" /></p><p>This week we've looked at two landmark products. The AMD FX-8150 is a massive step forward for AMD, not least because it's an eight-core computing powerhouse.</p><p>We've also taken an in-depth look at iOS 5. Apple's latest-gen mobile operating system. It introduces 200 enhancements and is available free now for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.</p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/processors/amd-fx-8150-1033315/review">AMD FX-8150 review</a></p><p>This first Bulldozer chip represents AMD's biggest change in processing tech for a decade. The FX-8150 is the full-fat, eight-core AMD super-chip running at a not inconsiderable 3.6GHz straight out of the box. As it is the FX-8150 is an impressive overclocker's chip - hitting 4.7GHz gives the chip one hell of a boost in performance terms. But unfortunately the chip's just not competitive enough against its rivals.</p><p>At stock speeds it struggles against the non-HyperThreaded Intel Core i5, even in some multi-threaded applications. And while it keeps pace with the competition in gaming terms it loses it when you come to adding in extra GPUs. So we can't help but feel disappointed with the lack of performance progress here. It's not a bad chip, but we wanted more.</p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-ericsson-xperia-arc-s-1033402/review">Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S review</a></p><p>The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S is a slim, bright, powerful Android smartphone that shows off the mobile operating system to its very best. The screen is fantastic and the processor and memory perform well enough to keep the Android experience running smoothly and quickly. However, the hardware upgrade in here isn't really noticeable at all. We never felt the original Xperia Arc was in any way underpowered or slow, so the 1.4GHz upgrade seems a bit pointless.</p><p>It's a lovely phone, but if the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S means the original Xperia Arc starts selling for a big discount, you'd be just as well to pick that one up instead. Both are excellent mobile phones.</p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/hands-on-ios-5-review-1033351">iOS 5 review</a></p><p>iOS 5 has landed and can now be downloaded to iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2 and iPod touch 3rd and 4th Generation. It comes packing plenty of good features, too. For a start, it gives you Android-style notifications that appear on the lock screen (if you want them to) and in a panel that slides down when you swipe the top of the screen.</p><p>Safari gets three key new features; Reader, which strips out ads and unnecessary page furniture to deliver a clean, clear reading environment; Reading List, which enables you to save pages to read later; and tabbed browsing on the iPad. There's plenty more where that came from too, so click the link to read more.</p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-titan-1033252/review">HTC Titan review</a></p><p>The HTC Titan certainly lives up to its name. It's a big beast but also has the ability to make itself feel like it means business without taking over your pocket space. The screen is amazing and (minus Flash), we love the internet experience.</p><p>Windows Phone 7.5 has a very glossy look and a lot of attention to detail has gone into getting that right. But that attention to detail hasn't been woven through the entire experience. Just take the lack of support for multiple Google calendars that rival platforms offer. Our biggest complaint is the lack of an expandable memory slot on what is meant to be a flagship Windows handset. Here, the HTC Titan lets itself down so badly. And the sad thing is, it needn't have been the case.</p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/asus-u36j-1033095/review">Asus U36J review</a></p><p>Asus' attempt at an ultraportable laptop might not have made the same splash in the technology world as Apple, Sony or Dell, but the U36J has a couple of good features that make it a likeable alternative, and the perfect accompaniment to the daily commute or a weekend away.</p><p><img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/What%20Laptop/WLT%20155/WLT155.solo.Asus01_1-420-100.jpg" alt="Asus u36j" width="420" /></p><h3>This week's other reviews</h3><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">AV receivers</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/receivers/marantz-nr1602-1032874/review">Marantz NR1602 review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/receivers/nad-t757-1032881/review">NAD T757 review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">CCTV</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/peripherals/multimedia/cctv/compro-ip70-1032212/review">Compro IP70 review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/peripherals/multimedia/cctv/jabbakam-1032302/review">Jabbakam Jabbakam review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/peripherals/multimedia/cctv/y-cam-eyeball-1032312/review">Y-Cam EyeBall review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/peripherals/multimedia/cctv/edimax-ic-7010ptn-1032327/review">Edimax IC-7010PTn review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Digital TV recorders</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/digital-tv-recorders/samsung-bd-dt7800-1032928/review">Samsung BD-DT7800 review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Headphones</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/headphones/atomic-floyd-superdarts-1032879/review">Atomic Floyd SuperDarts review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Home cinema systems</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/home-cinema-systems/paradigm-milleniaone-5-1-1032897/review">Paradigm MilleniaOne 5.1 review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/home-cinema-systems/sony-bdv-e880-1032956/review">Sony BDV-E880 review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laptops</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/asus-u36j-1033095/review">Asus U36J review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mobile phones</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-ericsson-mix-walkman-1032991/review">Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-titan-1033252/review">HTC Titan review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-ericsson-xperia-arc-s-1033402/review">Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Processors</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/processors/amd-fx-8150-1033315/review">AMD FX-8150 review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Projectors</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/projectors/viewsonic-pro8450w-3d-projector-1031803/review">ViewSonic PRO8450W 3D Projector review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/projectors/sony-vpl-hw30es-1032336/review">Sony VPL-HW30ES review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">TVs</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/televisions/plasma-and-lcd-tvs/toshiba-47vl863b-1032941/review">Toshiba 47VL863B review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/televisions/plasma-and-lcd-tvs/toshiba-regza-32ul863b-1033795/review">Toshiba 32UL863B review</a></p><p><img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/TechRadar/Home%20Entertainment/Toshiba%20UL863/UL863_front-420-100.jpg" alt="Toshiba" width="420" /></p><h4>Hands on reviews</h4><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Apps</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/hands-on-facebook-for-ipad-review-1033150">Hands on: Facebook for iPad review</a></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/hands-on-adobe-photoshop-touch-review-1031971%20">Hands on: Adobe Photoshop Touch review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cameras</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/hands-on-nikon-v1-review-1028350%20">Hands on: Nikon V1 review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laptops</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/hands-on-asus-zenbook-review-1033429">Hands on: Asus Zenbook review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mobile phones</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/hands-on-htc-sensation-xl-review-1032310">Hands on: HTC Sensation XL review</a></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Operating systems</span></p><p><a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/hands-on-ios-5-review-1033351">Hands on: iOS 5 review</a></p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p class="webonly"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sign up for TechRadar's free Week in Tech newsletter<br /></span>Get the hottest tech stories of the week, plus the most popular reviews delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up at <a title="blocked::http://www.techradar.com/register http://www.techradar.com/register" href="http://www.techradar.com/register">http://www.techradar.com/register</a></p><p class="webonly"><a href="http://twitter.com/techradar">Follow TechRadar on Twitter</a> * <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TechRadar">Find us on Facebook</a></p>http://www.maclife.com/article/news/weeks_hottest_reviews_techradar_23#commentsNewsAMDawesome technew processorsoverclockingTechRadarFri, 14 Oct 2011 16:30:50 +0000TechRadar12633 at http://www.maclife.com